I once accidentally spoke french to a waitress in Greece then apologised and said I wasn’t actually french. She went on a ten minute diatribe about how french people are the bane of her life because they refuse to speak English with her and just get louder and louder in french 😂
As a Belgian, I noticed that people usually get warmer when they learn I’m not French.
Hopefully the cliche will change over time.
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Afaik french officials within the EU commission tried to push french in meetings for a while after Brexit, but didnt have particular success
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English is still an official language of the EU thanks to Ireland and Malta.
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https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/malta_en
Official EU language(s): Maltese, English
https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles/ireland_en
Official EU language(s): Irish, English
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Seems strange to have Italy and Spain here, the English proficiency is usually at the same levels than France.
It’s not that they can’t speak English, the cliché (at least in the past) is that they refuse to speak it. Spanish people are probably worse when it comes to English proficiency these days.
